Oldest Music in the World

No joke – this IS the oldest known melody in the history of mankind. First, click play below. And while the music is playing, i’ll tell you what kind of music is this, and who were those who made it.

Is it playing yet?

Good.

This is a song from ~1400 BC – ~3400 years ago! Which makes it the oldest music in the world.

Its not made up or ‘inspired’ either – its the REAL thing, recovered from clay tablets it was written on. So its the ACTUAL music some people were playing and listening 3400 years ago.

The people were called Hurrians. Don’t mind the pictures they put into the video – they are rather random. Egyptian or whatnot – not all of them are relevant.

Hurrians were a culture who lived in some parts of Anatolia and Syria in Bronze Age. They had their own kingdom, Mitanni Kingdom at one point. The Hittite Empire included a huge population of Hurrians, and Hittite culture had a lot of their influence. The Hittite Empire is the one which did the famous Battle of Kadesh with Ramesses II (Egyptians), and the ones who signed the first ever (known) written treaty in mankind’s history, the Kadesh Treaty.

The song is the oldest among a series of songs recorded in the same clay tablets. This collection of songs is known as the Hurrian Songs. Hurrian Hymns cover a period in between ~1400 BC and ~1225 BC. So even the newest one is ~3300 years old.

Where was this song played?

Temples, religious ceremonies, religious occasions. Stuff like that.

Below is more from the same hurrian songs – these are played by period instruments.